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February 21, 2012

Let's keep it real - babies are expensive! When I found out I was expecting my budget was already tight, we just relocated, and are still paying off the fabulous road trip honeymoon in Ireland we took last May. So with not much room to cut back and save for baby gear, and only so many hours in the work day when I found an easy way to earn some free Amazon gift cards (where my registry just happens to be!) I jumped at the chance.

The first thing I will tell you is that I work full time, and I value my off hours with my husband. When he comes home from work we spend quality time together going for walks, cooking dinners, and exploring the area around us. I don't have the time in my day to be filling out surveys or doing tasks to earn points on rewards websites. I also don't believe in buying things that I don't need in order to get points on rewards websites. So until I discovered Swagbucks I thought these venues were not for me.

Then I came across Swagbucks and learned that this rewards website had several unique ways to earn points that would not waste my precious work hours or free time. I was interested so I joined. You can earn points by doing the things mentioned above, but that's not how I earn points. This is how I earn my points aka "Swagbucks"

Searching the Web - This is something I do all day anyway! I installed the Swagbucks toolbar, and use it as my main search engine. It is not as good as Google results wise, but 95% of the time it gets the job done. You can earn anywhere from 7 - 50 Swagbucks at random just from searching, and sometimes even more if they are running a special event. I generally hit the jackpot several times a day with my normal search activity. It is fantastic. I am essentially earning free baby gear through an activity I would be doing anyway so why not?

Daily Polls - This does take a moment of my time, but it is a quick way to earn a Swagbuck once a day that I enjoy. I get to the poll through the link on my tool bar, and am always amused at the results. It is a 1 click for 1 Swagbuck task.

NOSO - This stands for no obligation special offers. It does take time to complete, but not much so I make it part of my morning routine. You can sign up for offers or skip them. I hate junk mail so I skip all of them and earn 2 Swagbucks per day.

Swagbucks TV - I like having something on in the background while I work. From time to time instead of Podcasts I turn on the Swagbucks TV. You earn Swagbucks for watching a variety of videos in a variety of different categories. My husband also watches it while he gets ready for work.

So that's how I earn my Swagbucks with little to no effort on my part. It is wonderful, and I am happy with my results so far. I could be earning more if I took the time to take advantage of all the ways to earn, but for my lifestyle the way I do it just works.

Now back to the prizes. There are many different prizes at different price points, but my goal in all this is baby gear, and Swagbucks has great deals on Amazon gift cards. At first I was fooled and trying to save up for the $50 gift card, but then upon closer inspection I realized that the $5 gift card was a better deal. In a nutshell the $5 card costs 90 Swagbucks per dollar while the $25 card costs 126 Swagbucks per dollar, and the $50 card costs 108 Swagbucks per dollar. Once I realized this I started to redeem my Swagbucks for $5 Amazon gift cards which I can combine together when I make a purchase. The catch? You can only redeem 2 per day & 5 per month so learn to redeem as you go if Amazon if your fancy. If you still have more to redeem that's what the higher dollar amount gift cards are for!

I also found Swagbucks some time ago I love it. Its been a wonderful source of additional income. Granted its not always a lot but in this tough economy and being disabled its tough to make ends meet. Every little bit helps more than some people realize. Thanks for spreading the word about such a wonderful program.